Our next major status update on Final Fantasy XIV's 2.0 reboot will come in mid August, producer and director Naoki Yoshida revealed in an interview with Dengeki PlayStation this week.

That may seem like a long wait, but Yoshida assured that once the information starts rolling out, Square Enix will be doing weekly updates.

The start of updates will lead to the game's alpha, and then beta test. Around the time of the alpha, Yoshida hopes to release a benchmark program.

2.0 will offer better initial pacing than the original FFXIV, promised Yoshida. When you first access the game, you'll enter into a tutorial. This will guide you through the game, with the adventure gradually expanding before you.

The reboot also promises to offer a greater sense of "Final Fantasy," something Yoshida said PS3 owners should look forward to. This includes things like Crystal Tower, which gets its name from Final Fantasy III, and the dragon knight design which looks like Final Fantasy IV's Kain. The staff is being careful to preserve the Final Fantasy series image, said Yoshida.

Visuals are getting a major revamp for 2.0. From the planning stages, that team has put effort into real time shadows and lighting. Dengeki was apparently shown the game running on a non-gaming notebook PC, which allowed Yoshida to assure that the PS3 version would look pretty much the same.